Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 1 - 10 of 11 results
Photo of wake robin, or trillium, plant with leaves and flower
Wake Robin (Trillium)
Trillium sessile
The flower of wake robin, or trillium, has 3 petals and 3 sepals, and 3 leaves that subtend the solitary flower. The petal color varies in this common woodland spring wildflower, but it is most commonly brownish or maroon.
Photo of Adam and Eve orchid flowers
Adam and Eve Orchid
Aplectrum hyemale
Adam and Eve orchid is noticeable on winter woodland hikes. It is a green-and-white-striped, pleated leaf lying flat upon the dead leaves on the forest floor. Check back in May to see its flowers!
Photo of water shield showing leaves and a flower
Water Shield
Brasenia schreberi
Water shield is a long-stemmed aquatic plant with floating oval leaves that resemble small water lily leaves, only without a split. The stems and lower leaf surfaces have a thick, jellylike coating.
Photo of water milfoil plants along the shore of a pond
Water Milfoils
Myriophyllum spp.
Water milfoils are feathery aquatic plants that grow rooted in shallow water. Their tips emerge above the waterline and bear bladelike, toothed leaves.
Photo of purple meadow parsnip foliage and flowers
Meadow Parsnip
Thaspium trifoliatum
One of our more challenging plants to identify, meadow parsnip looks an awful lot like golden Alexanders. But you can do it! Look closely at the flower clusters and at the edges of the leaves, and then check the seeds.
Caucasian bluestem seed head
Caucasian Bluestem
Bothriochloa bladhii
Causasian bluestem and the closely related yellow bluestem are both aggressive, weedy degraders of pasturelands that escape cultivation and endanger native habitats. Learn more about these Old World grasses, and please don’t plant them!
Photo of Johnson grass flower clusters
Johnson Grass
Sorghum halepense
Johnson grass is a native of the Mediterranean that is invasive in our country. It’s a weed that infests cropland and degrades native ecosystems, and heavy infestations are found in all the major river bottoms of Missouri.
Photo of common reed plants in large colony
Common Reed
Phragmites australis australis
Common reed is both native and exotic, but it’s the exotic subspecies that has become an invasive problem. Taking over wetlands with its dense stands, it changes the plant and animal communities and even the way the water flows.
Photo of yellow bluestem plant
Yellow Bluestem
Bothriochloa ischaemum
Yellow bluestem is a nonnative, aggressive, weedy degrader of pasturelands that escapes cultivation and endangers native habitats. It blooms in Missouri in late June to July, far earlier than our native bluestems.
Crested Coral Root
Crested Coral Root
Hexalectris spicata (syn. Bletia spicata)
Crested coral root is an orchid that lacks chlorophyll, so none of it is green. It obtains nutrients from fungi and decaying organic matter. Compared to our other coral roots, it is taller and has larger flowers. It grows in Ozark habitats.
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About Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants in Missouri

A very simple way of thinking about the green world is to divide the vascular plants into two groups: woody and nonwoody (or herbaceous). But this is an artificial division; many plant families include some species that are woody and some that are not. The diversity of nonwoody vascular plants is staggering! Think of all the ferns, grasses, sedges, lilies, peas, sunflowers, nightshades, milkweeds, mustards, mints, and mallows — weeds and wildflowers — and many more!